Ascard power can strengthen, heal and create. It also has great potential to destroy, enough to topple entire governments. Indigo’s country places strict limitations on the use of ascard so she must channel her talents into the healing arts or risk severe punishment. An orphan from a disgraced family, trapped by her father’s treason, Indigo struggles to reclaim her place in a society that has driven her into an abusive engagement.

Then a mysterious stranger from a neighboring country contacts her using ascard. He needs help escaping his prison so he can bring an end to his emperor's oppressive rule or die trying. His unshakable devotion to his cause and the passion hidden behind his cool arrogance move her to help him at the risk of being branded a traitor herself.

When the politics of society bring them together a second time, Indigo decides to use her growing powers to help him fight his war. If only she dared fight for her own future with such passion. Perhaps she can find the courage to do so by helping the man she has fallen for win his revolution. She might have exactly the power he needs to succeed.

Indigo stared at the place Eldrian had been seconds ago. With him there, even the beasts couldn’t drive her away. With him gone, icy fingers of dread crept up her spine. She wanted to be anywhere else. In scant seconds, everything changed and all she had left of him were memories and a pair of boots.

Looking at the oversized boots, she grinned. Though she barely knew him, something about him fit her. His arms felt like home more than any place she had ever been. Jayce would be a poor substitute for this exotic man who made her feel so wanted and alive. Such was the price she would pay for her father’s treason.

She stepped closer to the pillars, pulse racing, but the shimmer was gone. He was gone and she couldn’t follow. In that instant, she would abandon everything to go after him. Placing a hand on either side of one pillar, she closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against rough gray stone. If only…

The sound of movement behind her shattered her musings like so much fragile glass. Her heart bounded into her throat. She spun. A hound ambled into the canyon. She looked into its sightless eyes and recognized death in them.

About the Author
Nikki started writing her first novel at the age of 12 (which is still tucked away in a briefcase in her office). Despite a successful short story publication with Cricket Magazine in 2007, she treated her writing addiction as a hobby until a drop in the economy left her with an abundance of free time to focus on making it her career.

Nikki lives in the magnificent Pacific Northwest tending to her awesome husband, two sweet horses, three manipulative cats, and a crazy dog. She’s a wine and tea fanatic who loves sitting on the ocean in her kayak surrounded by open water or hanging from a rope in a cave, embraced by darkness and the sound of dripping water. She also enjoys horseback riding, archery, PC gaming, dancing, good anime, etc. She studies Japanese and practices Iaido because she believes we should never stop learning.

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I see myself still in this little office, still writing and editing and publishing. I have three books coming out this year and three next year, so there might be a lot more books piled around my office in 10 years. ;)